


How to succeed in love: A tried and tested method by R. J. Lupin, married man.

by Tedah



Series: The men of number 12 Grimmauld Place [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bottom Harry Potter, Camping, Domestic Fluff, Don't copy to other sites, Draco Malfoy is a huge nerd, M/M, Married Couple, Remus Lupin is a good dad, Sex in the woods, Sirius black is a good dad, Stargazing, blink and you miss it mention of Regulus, paternal advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 23:33:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19328350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tedah/pseuds/Tedah
Summary: Harry seeks advice from a wise and experienced man. Remus comes through.Sirius doesn't like it but he can't argue with success, he will try anyway.Draco gets some advice from a DAD(tm) and actually goes through with it.There's some stargazing there and of course a happy ending after a happy beginning and a happy middle.





	1. Step 1: Get good advice

**Author's Note:**

> You asked, I deliver, here's a follow through on the boys getting some very wise advice from an older generation of idiots in love.
> 
> I need to thank  
> Rachel and her mother for providing the wise advice Remus gives out in this story  
> Aka, Donna and Bella for the motivation. Bella in particular for shutting up my inner saboteur  
> And of course Pomponia, the beta that came through for me.
> 
> Most important of all though, Orkeda44 and Rxxreading for unashamedly asking for more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the first part of Remus' fail proof method to succeed in love, I'll let you guess what the second part is.  
> It's a lot lighter than the first installment of the series but Draco deserves nice things and so do you.

Babies have this terrible habit, this thing they do all the time: they grow up.

As unique a child as Teddy Lupin was that was one commonality he retained with every other baby in the world.

He grew.

First he grew big enough not to fit into Remus’ baby carrier, and that happened quicker than any of the men in the house had time to realize.

Then he was big enough to walk hand in hand with his fathers under the summer sun, all wrapped up in a small rainbow flag, getting hoisted on Sirius’s shoulders only occasionally during the parade.

And then, one September, big enough to start primary school.

For some reason, even relieved of his babysitting duties, Harry kept coming around the house as regular as ever. Tea twice a week, Friday dinner, Sunday breakfast, or sometimes just because he "wanted to see his godfather". Sirius wasn't fooled, not anymore, not after Remus had been cruel enough to pop his bubble and point out how he wasn't the man Harry wanted to see, he was the cover. Sirius still took it as a win over Remus, at least he was interesting enough to be the excuse.

It happened in June on a Saturday. Teddy was out painting with Draco in the garden, Harry in the kitchen making tea while Remus worked at the kitchen table ignoring Sirius' valiant efforts to distract him.

There was only so much Harry could busy himself with in the kitchen though, and his glances out the window to the boys working in the garden weren't nearly as subtle as he thought they were, not to Remus anyway.

"I need advice," He cracked eventually. That finally got Remus to take his eyes off his papers and set the pen down. Sirius sat up straighter, giving Harry his undivided attention, it was his time to shine.

"It's about, uhm… sentimental matters." He leaned back against the counter, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Sirius grinned, his eyes lighting up "You've come to the right person, my little Pronglet. As you know I'm extremely well versed in the amatorial arts."

Remus rolled his eyes fondly and reached a hand out to rest a hand on Sirius' bicep, trying to settle him down a little.

"What is it, Harry?" He asked.

"It's about Draco," Harry mumbled, avoiding their eyes at all costs. Remus hummed and patted Sirius' arm.

"I'll take this one. I am unarguably the most experienced in seducing pure blood runaways around here." He gave his husband a small smile.

"Can't argue there, you did snatch the best catch of our generation" Sirius replied bringing Remus' hand to his lips to kiss the knuckles.

"I thought I was the best catch of our generation," Remus retorted.

"I was trying to get you to say yes to a date…" Sirius defended. "Besides we both know-"

"It was Evans." Remus nodded before Sirius could finish the thought.

"Guys..." Harry tried to bring the conversation back to him.

"Sorry, What's troubling you?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed "I want to ask him out, but how do I know if he's right for me? We have a good  thing going here, all of us, and I don't want to mess it up," he explained.

"Well, Pronglet, you should-" Sirius started with the tone that promised a theatrical and long winded performance that would end in a somewhat applicable life lesson

"Have sex with him" Remus cut him off completely straight.

"Moony!" Sirius gasped outraged

"What?" Remus asked, glancing at him over his glasses "it's what I did with you. And look how well it worked out."

"You what?! That's why you wanted to have sex on our first date? I thought it was a test to see if I was easy!"

"You were easy, and I didn't care, I kinda liked that. We already knew we cared about each other, but I needed to know if we were compatible. I never doubted my feelings or yours, what I wasn't sure about was our dynamic as a couple." Remus explained before turning back to Harry "so my only advice, built from experience is: sit on that dick and know for sure." Remus declared to a wide eyed, slightly horrified Harry.

"I remember it being me the one doing the dick sitting." Sirius piped in, Harry groaned.

"That was entirely unnecessary." Remus commented

"Oh, that was the unnecessary part? For real, Moony?" Sirius retorted. “I knew you only wanted me for my body.” He turned away with an overly dramatic gasp.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. If I had only wanted you for your body I would have gone out with Regulus instead.” Remus grinned at Sirius’ antics

“That’s treasonous!” Sirius stood up “my own little nerd brother?”

Remus hummed and reached out to grab Sirius’ shirt, pulling him in “I married you, didn’t I?” he purred.

Sirius melted at that and leaned down to kiss him with a satisfied “yeah you did.”

"I- Uhm- thanks?" Harry stammered, looking for an -if not graceful- at least dignified way to make an exit before things evolved further. "I'll give it a thought" he stumbled out of the kitchen, tea forgotten on the counter, followed by the giggling of the two men.

* * *

 

Later that day Draco was sitting on the floor in a soft cotton t-shirt while Sirius braided his hair after a shower. He could hear Remus pacing upstairs, trying to get Teddy to go to bed in a timely manner.

"Sirius," he started, but then he hesitated, shifting a little. Sirius kept working quietly, letting him figure out what and how he wanted to ask.

"Can I ask for some advice?"

Sirius smiled softly "sure, it's part of my job description these days" he replied, securing the braid with a hair band. Draco leaned his head back against his knees, looking up at him.

"I think I want to ask Harry out, but I don't want to upset this delicate balance we have here." He sighed. "I don't… I don't want to jeopardize this for something that might not even work out, because I finally have something good and..."

Sirius rested his hands on Draco's shoulders and squeezed gently

"First of all let's dispel the notion that you might lose this,” he started, his face open and honest, holding Draco’s eyes to make sure the message sunk in.

“Nothing you do is going to make you lose me or Remus or Teddy. You came late to the party but you're part of this family just as much as Harry. After all we've been through a bad date is not going to be what breaks us apart, mon loupiot." He reassured him. He couldn’t let Draco think his support was conditional on anything. He’d failed once and lost a brother for it, he wasn’t going to lose a child. Remus chose that moment to quietly make his way downstairs stopping at the door not to disturb them.

“Tell me you understand that, Draco?” he asked softly. Draco nodded, and if his eyes were a little watery Sirius wasn’t going to be the one to point it out.

"As far as the Harry thing goes, apparently you should have sex with him and see how that works out. I recently found out that's how my own husband picked me and we can't argue with success." He wanted to sound annoyed for Remus’ sake but he couldn’t keep the fondness out of his voice.

"Are you serious?" Draco asked with a frown, pulling back and turning around so he could face Sirius right side up. A slow grin spread on Sirius’ face at the question, a light behind his eyes as he replied.

"Yes, and you're Draco, what's that got to do with anything?"

Draco groaned at the horrible humor and left the man laughing on the couch while he stomped away grumbling "I don't know why I bother coming to you for advice."

"Because my advice is always very nice and accurate!" Sirius called after him as Remus joined him in the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Happy Pride to all of you, and share the love in the comments.


	2. Step 2: Put it in practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting very good advice from Sirius and Remus the boys have to figure out what to do with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's what you've been waiting for. Thank Marina and all the other beautiful degenerates of the discord squad that asked for it.

Every month no matter the season Sirius and Remus had a date night. Come rain or shine, school, work, children, hell or high water, they took a night to just be a couple, as close to the new moon as possible.

Draco got with the program pretty quickly after one such night he came home after drinks with Blaise, Pansy and Luna to witness something he wished he’d never seen. After The Incident of Which We Speak Not, date night became precious bonding time for Teddy and Draco. Draco would take Teddy out for some activity or other and then head over to the house of whatever relative or family friend had won the Have-Teddy-Sleep-Over lottery that month. Sirius and Remus would join them for breakfast the following day. It was fail proof, no danger of late night or early morning unwanted run ins for anyone.

In August Draco had decided to take Teddy camping so they could look at the Perseids and Teddy could enjoy a bit of time living wild and free in contact with nature. Sirius and Remus got enough of it once a month and were more than happy to let someone else be the one to take Teddy out on an adventure. For some reason Harry decided to tag along, a year living in a tent hadn’t been enough to put him off it, apparently.

Draco had packed everything, including the extra large tent they borrowed from Arthur, Teddy’s favourite blankets and star charts for Teddy to play around with. Harry showed up around teatime with his own duffel bag, Teddy already wired about the trip rattling off all the star facts he'd learned in the past week in preparation for the trip. Draco's backpack was ready by the door and Remus and Sirius were almost ready to leave, all decked out in formal robes

"I'm taking my nerd to the opera," Sirius told him, ushering him inside. "Moony, love of my life, light of my eyes, warmth of my blood, are you almost ready?" He called.

"I'm here, no need to shout" Remus replied, coming in from the living room, his robes half done up, Teddy in two babbling about meteor showers and wishing upon stars.

"Come here, my beautiful spawn." Sirius grinned, picking up Teddy and planting a kiss on his chubby cheek "What's the most beautiful star in the sky?" He asked.

"Sirius!" Teddy replied promptly with a big smile

"That's right, Tedward, that's all the astrology you need to know until your fourth year at Hogwarts" Sirius told him as Draco walked in clad in a white linen shirt and shorts.

Remus leaned in to kiss Teddy's forehead "You be good to your brother and your godfather, alright?" He said, trying to sound stern.

"Yes, daddy" Teddy replied with a big smile.

"Go forth and be wild," Sirius whispered putting him down as Remus turned to Harry and Draco.

"You have everything you need?" He asked, eyeing the bags.

"Yes, Remus, and you know we can just apparate back if we need, right?" Draco replied with a fond yet slightly exasperated smile.

"Yes, alright, fine. Off you go then. We'll see you in the morning." Remus nodded, shooing them out the door before he thought about it too much.

"Have fun!" Sirius called as they walked out.

Draco let Harry take care of the bags, while he picked Teddy up, holding him tight as he apparated. It was kind of funny how Remus would occasionally forget he was a wizard, worrying about things the most trivial of spells could easily solve. Just like Harry, who was struggling to light the fire the muggle way when a simple  _ Incendio _ would suffice. Teddy did seem entertained though, and it gave Draco enough time to set some protection charms around the camp and raise the tent.

As the sun started to set around them Draco took charge of cooking dinner on the campfire while Harry was lecturing Teddy on the art and science of the perfect s’more. After extensive theoretical preparation Teddy was finally handed a stick and a delicious treat that he, as any smart six year old would, immediately shoved in his mouth, much to Harry’s dismay and Draco’s delight.

“No, Teds! you gotta roast it first!” Harry groaned.

“But it taftef good like dif,” Teddy tried to argue around a marshmallow a little too big for his mouth. His logic was stringent, if the pronunciation a little rough.

“But if you roast it and put it between two crackers with a bit of chocolate it’s better.” Draco could watch Harry argue with a child all night long, especially if the child was Teddy, looking at him suspiciously over the asserted deliciousness of marshmallow-based treats. What finally turned Teddy around was empirical evidence. Harry handed him a s’more and watched Teddy eat it with a smug smile. Teddy had to admit, after smearing chocolate on half his face, that indeed marshmallows could get more delicious. But now he’d learned he could eat raw marshmallows and still get Harry to make him s’mores, which didn’t seem to be the goal Harry was aiming at.

“Look at this, Teddy” Draco pulled his attention levitating a marshmallow to the fire, slowly turning to get a perfect roasting.

“Can I do it that way too?” Teddy asked.

“Sure, but you gotta learn to do it the muggle way first, or you’ll end up burning all of them.” Draco replied, and the unabashed shining gratitude in Harry’s eyes over Draco handing him a win over an argument with Teddy was almost too much. The warmth on Draco’s face had little to do with the fire, especially after watching the man half naked chopping the wood now burning between them. He had to remind himself about Teddy in order not to get too carried away.

“You can try making another one after you have some dinner” he added, levitating the plates in front of them with sausages and potatoes.

Once Teddy and Harry had stuffed themselves full of refined sugars to a dangerous level and it got late enough, Harry laid down the blankets so they could get comfortable and look at the sky. Teddy got comfortable between them and remained quiet for a long moment, taking in all the stars above them.

“Draco, where’s dad?” he asked in a whisper, as if afraid to scare the stars away.

“he only comes out in winter, Teds.” Draco replied softly.

“Oh” He seemed disappointed and that wouldn’t do.

“We can come out and do it again over winter hols” Harry told him.

“Ok!” Teddy agreed, his good mood quickly returning. 

“Who’s up there right now?” he asked after a long pause.

“I’m around all year” Draco told him, pointing up at the long line of stars making up his namesake.

“Am I up there too?” Teddy asked and Draco had to wrack his brain for an answer. He immediately thought of Ophiuchus with the Serpent or Canis Minor but Harry preempted him.

“No, Teds, there wasn’t a star bright enough for you, but we can pick some to be just yours.” That devolved into making up constellations and stories about them that Draco tried to intersperse with some actual mythology, just so Teddy wouldn’t go around boasting knowledge of the elusive star cluster of the mountain troll, chased by the floating bat.

All of that was forgotten when Teddy spotted the first shooting star, after that it was wish-making time. The sugar rush only carried Teddy so far and soon enough he was passed out with his head on Harry’s arm. Draco spared a glance at them under the barest sliver of moon, the picture of peace, Harry’s eyes were up, lost in the sky but the way his fingers brushed against Draco’s arm felt purposeful and Draco let himself wish upon a star.

“We should carry him to bed” Draco whispered eventually, pushing himself up on an elbow. Harry looked up at him and shook his head, resting a hand on his arm.

“It’s nice out here, stay.” he murmured, squeezing gently. The barest hint of a question in his voice. Draco wanted to read into it so much more than it was, but he relented and laid back down, strengthening the warming charms around them before settling down to sleep under the unexplainable magic of shooting stars.

Try as he might to keep sleeping, Draco was awake at the first light of dawn, the earliest grey shades making the stars fade away and flood the sky with the muted shades of pink and right there, low on the horizon, barely visible, twinkling just for him, Sirius.

Draco sighed.

_ We can’t argue with success. _

Sirius’ words echoed in his mind as he glanced at Harry, right next to him, curled around Teddy, green eyes staring back at him.

“Hey” Harry murmured. His voice rough with sleep shot down Draco’s spine like lightning, and then he smiled and Draco was done for, he knew he was going to go for it when he replied

“Hey” the same roughness in his own tone.

The hours between that exchange and the moment when Sirius and Remus showed up to have breakfast with them were charged with a mounting tension, an energy coursing through them that pushed to be released into something powerful. Very few words were exchanged but Teddy was enthusiastic enough to carry the conversation for all of them, relaying in detail all the new lore to his dads over eggs and bacon.

“Do you guys need help breaking camp?” Remus offered as they finished breakfast.

“Uh? No, no, you guys go ahead, we’ll be back shortly.” Draco replied, by some miracle paying enough attention to formulate a coherent reply that would buy him enough alone time with Harry.

The crack of apparition was still echoing into the stillness of the woods when Draco pinned Harry down on the blanket, fire in his veins that called out to him. He stopped for a second, searching Harry’s eyes for some kind of permission, his breath already short with the effort of holding back. Harry, pushed right back and crashed their lips together, drinking him in like he was starving for it, like he wanted it just as fiercely as Draco.

After that it was only instinct guiding Draco, clothes got vanished, and there were no coherent words exchanged beyond “yes- more!” and “right there”. It was a primal coming together, the perfect arch of Harry’s back compelling Draco to trace it in reverence, pulling sounds from Harry that were as intoxicating as the way the jut of his hips fit into Draco’s hands when he flipped him over on his back.

They took their pleasure from each other with no plan, no finesse and no elegance, naked on the ground, gasping for breath in the morning air, growing hot as the sun rose over them, the gentle breeze drying the sweat pooling on their bodies tangled together.

Draco came first with an animalistic grunt, his forehead on Harry’s shoulder, Harry’s hand tugging on his hair as he spilled inside him. Harry wasn’t that far behind, biting his lip as he spurted over both of them.

They stared up at the sky, dazed and panting as they came down. Much to Draco’s dismay Harry was the first to regain the ability to be verbal. “I’m keeping you.” He announced, an arm secure around Draco’s waist.

“Good, I’m keeping you too.” he managed to reply after a long moment, an embarrassing giddiness overcoming him at the implication of those words.

They allowed themselves a moment to enjoy the orgasmic glow and the pure bliss to just lounge around naked but eventually they had to break camp and go back home, face Sirius and Remus and their matching knowing grins, offer Teddy some half baked excuse for their lateness and go shower.

“There were twigs in his hair!” Sirius whispered, an ecstatic grin still on his face as the water started running. Remus nodded.

“I saw,” He replied.

“And hickeys!” Sirius added, a hint of giddiness in his voice.

“Yup.” Remus nodded again. “Told you, it never fails, mark my words.”

* * *

 

Four years later as they stood side by side in their most elegant formal robes witnessing the union of their boys, Remus discreetly leaned closer and whispered "See? I'm always right."

Sirius smiled "Shut up, you just got lucky. Twice." He whispered back, trying not to be too obvious wiping his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you were wondering Draco thinks of Ophiuchus when Teddy asks if he's in the sky too because Ophiuchus carries the snake and Draco knows Teddy has him wrapped around his little finger. Canis Minor is obvious since Sirius is Canis Major.
> 
> You can find me [on tumblr](https://tedahfromtayla.tumblr.com/) for a chat.


End file.
